Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Mathurin

Mathurin, or Maturin for the benefit of the spell checker is Maturinus, a man
who died around 300AD and is venerated as a Saint in both the Catholic and the
Eastern Orthodox Church. As a youth he secretly converted to the Christian
faith, he performed the odd miracle, he had a wonderful ability to drive out
demons, calm rowdy individuals and rioters. And probably he was a joy to be
around, confident, holy decent and upright.

In the course of the succeeding centuries, and because of his ability to drive
out demons he became a Patron Saint for the Insane. Sensibly enough, he also
became a Patron Saint for Comedians and Jesters. As well he became a Patron
Saint for Sailors and for Tin Smiths, a Gypsy occupation. And for one reason or
another he became a Patron Saint for Plumbers. However, there is no Patron Saint
of Thieves there is only a Patron Saint of Repentant Thieves. His name is
Nicholas, a bossy sort of name, so we writers of pulp do on occasion lean toward
renting in twain the whole cloth. Either way, Saint Mathurin figures large in
The Rabbit of Usk.